


Day 10: Deprived

by GemmaRose



Series: LawLu Week 2020 [10]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Hugs, M/M, Touch-Starved Trafalgar D. Water Law
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:34:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28178466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GemmaRose/pseuds/GemmaRose
Summary: Luffy may not be a doctor, but he can tell when something is wrong.
Relationships: Monkey D. Luffy/Trafalgar D. Water Law
Series: LawLu Week 2020 [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2063889
Comments: 5
Kudos: 152





	Day 10: Deprived

Torao, Luffy decided, was missing something. He hadn’t said as much, hadn’t said a whole lot that wasn’t about his plan to take down Mingo, but Luffy could tell. He held himself like Robin had, back at the start. Before she got used to being around all of them, before she decided to live for her dream instead of die for it. A frown tugged at the edges of his mouth, and Luffy looked across the deck again at Torao, leaning on the railing and staring out at the horizon. He had talked a lot about defeating Mingo, but not a whole lot about anything after.

Sanji insisted that it was just an old superstition, that talking about what you wanted to do after a major battle was like beckoning Death to find you in combat, but Luffy had never heard of that before, and neither had Zoro or Nami or any of the rest of the crew, so Sanji was probably just being silly. Or maybe, as Robin had suggested, he knew something about North Blue that the rest of them didn’t, and Torao was being silly because that’s how people from North Blue were. Luffy kinda hoped that was the case, because if Torao didn’t _have_ any plans for after, when his plans for their attack were so precise, that felt an awful lot like he might not plan to get through the fight in one piece. And that just wasn’t acceptable.

“Hey, hey, Torao.” he bounced across the deck to latch on to Torao’s arm, pressing himself up against the taller captain’s side. Ooh, he was nice and warm under his flappy coat! Luffy twisted around Torao’s arm and tucked himself under it, snug between Torao’s suddenly tense side and the warm, heavy fabric of his coat.

“Straw Hat-ya, what are you doing?” Torao asked, his jaw clenched so tight Luffy could see something twitching with the force of staying still.

“Keeping you company.” he smiled, leaning into Torao’s side a little more. He really was warm. He’d be a great pillow if he wasn’t so bony.

“From inside my coat?” Law’s hand trembled on the railing, but Luffy couldn’t sense any intent to attack form him, not even the little flickers he got right before Sanji kicked him in the face to make him leave the kitchen. Another mystery. Torao was full of them.

“You’re warm.” he said simply, wrapping his arms around Torao. Torao sucked in a sharp breath, his whole body going taut, and Luffy backed up quickly, looking at his hands. No blood, but... “Torao, are you hurt?” he asked cautiously. Chopper told Zoro all the time that if he hurt at all he might need medicine, that not all injuries were visible from the outside. Torao was a doctor too, but maybe he was hurt somewhere he couldn’t get his hands to easily. 

“No, Straw Hat-ya.” Torao sighed. “I’m fine.”

“You don’t sound fine.” Luffy said, wrapping his arms around Torao again, outside of the coat this time. Torao pulled away from him, breathing hard, and Luffy caught his hand. “We’re supposed to fight Mingo together, right? You can’t fight as good if you’re hurt.”

“I’m not hurt, Straw Hat-ya.” Torao shook his head. “It’s just-” his face screwed up. “It’s complicated, you wouldn’t understand.”

“So make it simple.” Luffy said, holding Torao’s hand tighter.

Torao laughed, and turned to sit down with his back against the railing. Luffy dropped to sit cross-legged in front of him, still holding his hand so he couldn’t run off. Not that there was anywhere to run _to_ on Sunny where Luffy couldn’t find him. Maybe that was why he wasn’t running. Torao was smart like that. “I’ve been on Punk Hazard for a long time, Straw Hat-ya. I haven’t-” he gestured vaguely with his free hand, body slowly relaxing as his long fingers curled around Luffy’s. “I didn’t want any of Doflamingo’s people to touch me, so I didn’t let them. I haven’t been touched in months, until yesterday. And nobody’s _hugged me_ since I saw off my crew.”

“Ohhhh.” Luffy nodded. “You’ve been lonely.”

“Wha- no, you rubber idiot.” Law kicked at him without any real force. “I’m touch-starved. Anything other than a fight, it feels more intense because I haven’t had it in a while. Like- like coffee, or spicy food. If you don’t have it for too long, it’s got more punch when you do have it again.”

“Torao.” Luffy brought his other hand up to settle over Torao’s long, calloused fingers. “People aren’t supposed to be alone.”

Torao’s breath caught around something that wanted to be a sob, and Luffy scooted closer, closer, until he could slide himself into Torao’s lap and settle up against his chest, ear resting over Torao’s racing heart. “Luffy, I-”

“Shh.” Luffy shushed him, wrapping his arms around Torao’s body. “When I was little, sometimes Ace had to go places I couldn’t get into. Sometimes he was gone for _days_.” the memories hurt, a dull ache that pulsed along the edges of the scar on his chest, but he pressed on. “And when he get back, we’d do this. He would sit down and let me hold him until we weren’t lonely for each other anymore.” he tilted his head back, until he could see Torao’s face, eyes shadowed by the brim of his hat.

“I’m not the crew you’re lonely for, but... it helps, right?” his voice went soft at the end, and for a moment silence hung between them, heavy with something Luffy couldn’t name.

“Yeah.” Torao choked out, his heart pounding hard against the ribs under Luffy’s cheek. “Yeah, it helps.” his arms came up around Luffy, holding him close, and Luffy smiled as he snuggled further into Torao’s warmth, letting out a happy noise when Torao shifted to drag more of his coat over them both.

“Thanks, Torao.”

“I think I should be thanking you, Straw Hat.” Torao chuckled, one of his hands drifting up to drift cool fingers through the hair at the nape of Luffy’s neck. “Or did your little doctor send you out to treat me?”

“Chopper? Nah.” Luffy shifted a bit, getting comfortable. “You just looked lonely.”

“Am I really so easy to read?” he sounded frustrated, kinda like Robin had when she’d first been getting used to them. Luffy thought they would be good friends, if they took some times to know each other, but that could wait until later. Right now, Torao needed cuddles.

“Nah.” Luffy chuckled against Torao’s shirt. “I just know what lonely looks like.”

**Author's Note:**

> Apologies to any not-logged-in readers, but due to an ex who refuses to leave me alone I have had to disable anon comments. Kudos are still open though, and if you want to scream (or would like me to write a fic for you) come check me out on Pillowfort! No account required to get my discord, and I'm always happy to chat. [[Link](https://www.pillowfort.social/GemmaRose)]


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